Poll shows how Chinese public perceives Russian troops in Crimea

By Zhang Yiwei Source:Global Times Published: 2014-3-5 0:58:02

Nearly half of respondents support Russia sending troops to Crimea and roughly 80 percent support the move as they believe it is justified for Russia to fight back against the West infringing upon its interests, a poll revealed.

Some 35 percent of respondents are against Russian troops entering Crimea and nearly 20 percent do not hold a clear stance.

The poll, conducted by the Global Times Global Poll Center on Tuesday, collected 1,073 responses from people aged over 18 in seven cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Shenyang.

Nearly half of the respondents said they support the move as it distracts some of the West's attention away from China and hence strategically alleviates China's pressure, while about 46 percent of the respondents believe that Crimea belongs to Russia in origin. Some 20 percent support it as they "feel good" to see Russia defy the West.

Some 46 percent of respondents voted that Russia would be the victor of a fight with the West, and only 4.8 percent hold the opposite attitude. Nearly 38 percent think that no one would be victories.

"Most respondents support Russia sending troops to Crimea because they have seen the disasters that Western neo-interventionism brings upon the world," said Wang Haiyun, senior advisor of the China Institute for International Strategic Studies. "They are disgruntled by the chaos such interference has given rise to and don't want to see the turmoil spill into more regions."

The Chinese people are happy to see someone stand up and defy the intervention of the West.

Their support shows neo-interventionism won't be popular among the Chinese public, he said.